Chang-li leaned over the railing of the riverboat, gawking like the provincial rube he suddenly knew he was. After traveling inland for five days, the river had brought them to a deep, narrow lake in a steep valley. The walls of the valley were sharply angled, going up eight or nine hundred feet above the river's level, and every inch of those hills was terraced. Little paths led up the hills, and small clumps of farming villages clung to the edges of the paths, but the vast majority of the hillsides on both sides of the lake were farms.

Now, toward the end of summer, the terrace farms were green and gold with ripe crops, and farmers worked industriously to gather them in. The edges of the lake were lined with rice paddies, their shoots rising up ten or fifteen feet tall. He took it in. He was a city boy, but he'd seen rice growing plenty of times, and he knew it did not get that big, not without a great deal of lux. His cultivator senses told him the ambient lux level here was far higher than he'd ever seen outside of a tower, but that was because of what waited at the center of the lake.

The bone-white tower rose from the depths, casting its stark reflection across the rippling waters. It was taller than the walls of the valley around it. The city was built around the tower, on the surface and above the surface of the water. On the surface of the lake were great rafts, some made of wood with little railings along them like oversized barges, others matted dirt and grass that somehow floated on top of the water. Covering every inch of those surfaces were huts, shanties, shacks, and ramshackle buildings of all descriptions.

They circled the tower but came no nearer to it than a hundred feet. At regular intervals, channels cut through the mass of floating platforms leading into the inner circle. From there, stairs rose out of the water, leading to the platforms on the tower itself.

The first platform was about twenty feet up, jutting out of the side of the tower like a fungus growing on the side of a tree. The platform was shaped something like one of those fungi too, roughly circular, wedged against the edge of the tower, and three or four hundred feet in circumference. The tower was covered in them. Little balconies and stairs ran from platform to platform. The platforms grew larger as they went up the tower, until a hundred feet or so from the top was an enormous shelf that ringed the entire platform. He couldn't see what was on top of it from here. It shaded nearly the whole open space of water on the surface of the lake. It had to be a hundred or more feet across.

Chang-li had been standing here at the rail ever since their boat entered the lake just after dawn that morning. Min had kicked him out of their sleeping chamber, telling him he wouldn't want to miss this. He had gone out to humor her, expecting to take a look and be done, but he hadn't budged since.

A little farther along the rail, Joshi was staring as well. He'd noted their disciples passing now and then, barely giving the sight a look. But then they were Riceflower natives, weren't they? This must be common to them.

Min came up beside him and set her hand on his. "Well, what do you think?"

He shook his head. "I had no idea such a place existed.”

“Your scribe studies were rather lacking, weren't they?"

He cleared his throat. "We studied history and law," he said stiffly. "Not, well, this." He waved a hand at the tower.

She tilted her head and studied it critically. "It is rather imposing, isn't it?" she said. "It's called the Riceflower, and it is what our province is named for."

"I thought that was because you put out nearly a tenth of the empire's entire crop of rice, despite having less than two percent of the land mass," Chang-li said.

She raised an eyebrow. "So you did study something in school. Yes, rice is our specialty. You can see here our paddies are enhanced by lux. This is one of the Ten Towers of Heaven, those specially blessed by the Emperor. We're expecting a boon crop this year, thanks to the tower being overdue for a cull. Our fields are bountiful." She sounded proud of her city and its efforts.

Chang-li just kept staring. This was what being a cultivator was all about. Seeing sights he'd never dreamed of, visiting places he could never have hoped to visit as a scribe. "It's magnificent." His eyes fell on the raft town beneath, and he pointed. "Is there not enough room on the shelves for all of them?"

Min's face fell. "Those are the workers," she said quietly. "Many of them are probably runaway serfs from other provinces. We don't tend to ask too many questions. The Brotherhoods look after them. Be careful if you are in the Flotsam, and check for Brotherhood affiliations, since you're associated with the Oaken Band. If you run into one of our rivals, that could be a problem. Though honestly, Grandfather has most of the rivals sewed up. They wouldn't dare pass wind without asking his permission."

"The Flotsam?" he asked, temporarily diverted.

"That's what we call the raft city. The 'shelves' are actually known as ‘petals,’ and they're numbered lowest to highest. If you come from a lower petal, everyone knows you're not as important. And the ring? That's the Crown," Min said. "It's where I grew up, and where we'll be heading eventually. But not just yet. Grandfather's making other arrangements for us."

He cleared his throat. "When you talk about your grandfather, which one?"

"Grandfather Jiang,” Min said crisply. "Grandfather Guo is, last I heard, in no condition to make arrangements for anyone or anything." Her face fell slightly. "I would like it if we were able to pay a social call on him. I would like to introduce you."

He covered her hand with his and squeezed. "Of course. You're my guide here, Min. I knew I was going to be relying on you. I just had no idea how much. I'm completely out of place here."

She smiled up at him. "Tell you what. I'll be your guide outside the tower, and you're my guide once we're in."

Farther down the rail, Joshi made a disgusted noise and pushed away. He stalked past them grumpily. "How much longer till we get there?"

"Another half an hour," Min said.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"I'll be in my room, cycling." They watched him go.

Min shot Chang-li a mischievous glance, and they both began to laugh together. Min shook her head. "I don't mean to upset him, but he does need to get over himself, doesn't he?"

Chang-li thought he probably should defend his friend but was distracted staring into his bride's face. He bent over and kissed her. "How long did you say we had until we reached the city?"

"Long enough."

This city was a wonder, Chang-li decided, but it was also damned inconvenient. There were only a few paths from one petal to another. Min led him, Joshi, and the sect disciples up a stair, firmly attached to the outside of the tower, to the first of the petals, then along an arching bridge over to the next.

"Are these natural phenomena, or constructed?" Chang-li asked.

"They were grown. It is said it was a gift of the Emperor to one of his first wives a thousand years ago," Min said. "We had to add the bridges and stairs ourselves. This is the fifteenth petal, and we have to make it all the way to the sixty-fourth. Keep up."

Chang-li cycled Purification of Mind and Soul. His lux reserves were at last draining. There was almost enough lux here in the air, drifting off of the tower, to refill his core. Joshi seemed to note it too. His eyes flickered about as they went.

"Is the air here always so full of lux?" he asked.

Min didn't pause as she led them, her sleek, dark head bobbing along in front as she swept them past. She had an air of certainty that Chang-li had seen in her a few times before, but never quite this strongly. It was an appealing attitude. "I don't know," she confessed. "I can tell what you mean, now that I have begun cultivation myself and had some experience with lux. It is dense, isn't it? I don't know if the air here is always so rich, or if it's because of the upcoming tower call. I suppose we must always have more ambient lux," she added thoughtfully. "Our rice crops are famous throughout the empire.

“Because they're five times taller than they should be," Chang-li remarked.

"Fortunately, the stalks grow more grains of rice, not bigger individual grains," Min said, laughing. "Can you imagine a grain of rice big enough to serve an entire family as one meal? That would be inconvenient to ship, wouldn't it?"

They were a good fifty feet higher than the water now. Chang-li glanced over the edge of a bridge as they went, seeing the open lake beneath him and off to one side, the nearest edge of the Flotsam. A pair of children were fishing from the edge of one raft, their lines dangling in the open water. They didn't look up. Both wore wide-brimmed hats over their heads.

As Chang-li and the party approached the next petal, he realized why those hats were important. A stout woman in her forties was lugging heavy pails to the edge of the petal. Her clothes and sun-marked features marked her as a laborer. She was wearing a rosette, though not of the Oaken Band Brotherhood. She tipped each of the pails over the edge of the petal, dumping their foul contents into the water below.

"Is that the water your people drink?" Chang-li asked, scandalized. For all its crowded streets and huddled buildings, at least the town where he'd grown up had had a proper sewer system.

"No, no," Min assured him. "At least not those of us on the petals. There are natural springs that we tap. I suppose the water comes from the tower," she added. "I never thought of it before."

"What about the people down there?"

Min glanced over her shoulder at him. Her face was more serious now. "Yes, that's their drinking water. My Brotherhood and others have made it a point to see that the larger communities in the Flotsam have access to purification barrels. It's very basic lux technology. Grandfather said it was a cheap way to take care of our people, and that taking care of our people meant they'd take care of us."

"Or you could use that same effort to build a decent sewer system," Chang-li suggested. Min had turned her face forward and didn't answer him.

When they at last reached Petal 64, Chang-li stepped off the bridge and gave himself a moment to look around.

The petals had been growing larger as they went up. This one was nearly 300 feet over the surface of the lake. A narrow railing ran all along the edge, just above knee height. It didn't look as though it would be much of a barrier for someone to fall. But he supposed it was better than nothing.

The petal had two streets. One ran straight across its base, with the tower on the left and the first row of buildings on the right. On the far end, he could see a set of curving stairs leading up to the next petal in the chain, which was slightly offset so that half of this petal was in shade, the other half in sun.

On Chang-li's right hand, another broad avenue ran down the outside of the petal. Narrow alleys between buildings filled in everywhere else. At a guess, it was perhaps a quarter the size of the neighborhood where he'd grown up. Some of the buildings were two-story, and in the center of the petal, a large four-story structure dominated everything.

Min pointed. "This is the Brotherhood Hall. I have asked Grandfather to arrange our sect lodging on a different petal, and he's agreed, but he wishes to host us as his guests for one night."

"One night," Joshi agreed. The Darwur man looked nervous. He had taken several steps away from the edge, and his face was more gray than Chang-li had ever before seen. His hands were clenched into fists, knuckles white.

Min seemed to note that. She gestured to the disciples and the rest of the escort they'd brought up from the boat. "Go ahead," she said. They scurried off, Brother Stone nodding politely as he left.

"Is there something the matter?" Min asked when the others had gone.

Joshi shook his head. "It is merely very high."

Chang-li had to agree. He was focusing on the tall wall of the tower rising off to his left and the seeming solidity of the petal under his feet. The surface was spongier than stone, like mossy ground, but was as white as the tower from which it grew. Still, if it had stood a thousand years, thanks to the Emperor's power, it would probably stand for a few more months.

Min lowered her voice. "My grandfather is not the most powerful man in the city, whatever he'd like you to believe."

"No," Chang-li said before he could help himself. "That's your other grandfather, isn't it?"

A look of pain passed over Min's face and vanished. "No. As a matter of fact, that was never the case. The politics here in Vardin City are somewhat complicated, and I didn't get the impression that either of you were particularly interested in civil affairs, but suffice it to say, an uneasy sort of peace exists. The Brotherhoods all respect my Grandfather Jiang, but they'll backstab us and seek their own gain. Grandfather Jiang keeps them in check for Grandfather Guo. But for the last few years, the most powerful man has been the Chief Magistrate sent by the Office of Cultivation. He is Prism Nai Hong's right-hand man."

"Was that the Prism we met before?"

Min shook her head. "Nai Hong is the Prism who has authority over this entire province, as well as seven others. I'm not sure why Prism Nai Lin was called in to help at that tower climb. Perhaps Prism Nai Hong asked for her; she is his daughter, after all. With the Bridal Tournament and eventually the Emperor's appearance, it's almost certain that we'll have a chance to see Prism Nai Hong himself. I've met him three times before. He's a very intimidating man."

"Wait, what was that?" Joshi asked sharply. "The Emperor coming here?"

Min looked puzzled. "Well, obviously he'll be coming here," she said. "After all, he's going to be taking a new bride. You don't think they'd just put her on a boat and ship her off to the capital, do you?"

That had been exactly what Chang-li had expected. He shared a look of dismay with Joshi. They did not want to get any of the Emperor's attention for themselves. An escaped slave and a jumped-up scribe who had been illicitly cultivating violet lux in contravention of the Emperor's laws, attempting to resurrect a sect the Emperor himself had apparently ordered destroyed hundreds of years ago. It seemed like a terrible idea. But they were here now. Chang-li glanced back over his shoulder at the thin rail separating him from the water far, far below. He turned back to Min and squared his shoulders.

“Then I guess it's time we met your grandfather.”